UP: Photography enthusiast robbed off camera, accessories worth Rs 5 lakh

An amateur photographer was allegedly robbed off his camera and accessories worth Rs 5 lakh by three unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida on Sunday, officials said.

The incident took place during the day when he was on an isolated road stretch in Dhanauri Wetlands, a spot famous among bird-watchers and wildlife photography enthusiasts, according to officials.

The photographer was in his car when the accused trio came and robbed him off his camera worth Rs 4 lakh and a lens worth Rs 85,000 and some related items, totalling a loss around Rs 5 lakh, local police officials said.

"An FIR has been registered at the Dankaur police station on charges of loot," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Greater Noida, Vishal Pandey said.

"Three police teams have been formed to investigate the matter. Efforts are on to search and locate the accused and arrest them soon to recover the robbed items," Pandey said.

Earlier in January this year, the first-ever Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) held by Wetlands International South Asia and the Gautam Buddh Nagar forest department had counted a total of 6,227 waterbirds belonging to 59 species in the Dhanauri Wetlands.

Of these, 11 species were those listed on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as threatened, according to officials.